Judge Set To Rule Tomorrow In Monserrate Assault Case
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State Senator Hiram Monserrate's fate is now in the hands of a judge, who is expected to announce his ruling tomorrow.
Both sides gave their closing arguments yesterday in the state senator's assault trial.
Hospital employees testified that his girlfriend, Karla Giraldo, told them Monserrate attacked her with a broken glass. Monserrate and Giraldo both say she was cut when the lawmaker tripped while bringing her a glass of water.
Monserrate's lawyer says his client needed to use force to bring his drunk girlfriend to the hospital after she sustained the cuts and that surveillance video shown to the court proves that point.
"There was so much made about that video, but when it was actually seen in court, what she is doing is consistent with what she said she was doing, which was acting irrationally because she didn’t want to go to the hospital,” said attorney Joseph Tacopina. “That's what the hospital staff said and that's what Karla Giraldo said. You can put whatever spin you want on that but the evidence and the facts and the witnesses support that this was not an act of violence, it was an act of force that was reasonable and necessary."
If convicted, Monserrate faces seven years in prison and the loss of his State Senate seat.